Hotter Than July

Jeez, anybody know anything about Chris Bootcheck, the Angels’ starting pitcher today? The youngster is making his second career start and will face Randy Johnson on what promises to be a hot and hazy afternoon in the Bronx.

26 comments

1. Things are looking bleak, but I continue to be optimistic that Manny will be traded to the Mets later today. It would be like an early Christmas present to the AL as a whole. Get that deal done, Omar and Theo!

Add in that Cruz Jr. also missed a month of the season with lower back problems, and I'm glad we said "pass". He hasn't hit worth a damn, and he played half his games in a hitter's park - I hope the Sox play him often. =)

9. Giambi is hitting a HR about 1 in every 14.1 Abs. How good is that? A-Rod is hitting a HR about 1 in every 13.75 Abs. I haven't done the math, but if you give Giambi an extended Spring training, and consider the season starting in the middle of May, he would be close to leading the LEAGUE in HRs, OBP and OPS.

People compare his numbers to 4 years ago... which isn't very fair for a guy who is 34 and recovering from a year of multiple health problems. However, his OPS now is better then his lifetime numbers.

13. This has been an infuriating game thus far. The Angels lead 5-2 in the eighth. Johnson was not great and the two dingers he surrendered to the fuggin Molina brothers killed him. To make matters worse, the Bombers scorched at least a half-a-dozen balls off Bootcheck and didn't have dick to show for it.

15. Is it to late to get a refund on Randy Johnson? Why does it seem that, when we need him to win, he's sure to pull a Buckeye like he did today - 6 runs in 7.1? That's just not good enough. Sorry, Randy - particularly when the offense is slumping, you need to come up bigger than that.

I can't agree with you, Rich... the Yankees' pitching is just not good enough to contend. You have the parade of the ancient ones, followed by a lot of TBA pitchers.

23. I am certainly not a TW fan... and that was an easy out with the infield at normal depth... but I'll take it. One thing TW can do is 'swat' the ball. With a man on 3rd and less then 2 out, contact is the most important thing. I don't know why Phillips, Posada, Sheff and others have to swing from the heals when all we need is a ball hit 150'.

I consider ourselves lucky to win that one.
I love Sheff but he always looks lazy in RF. It almost cost us the game.

I still think this teams is VERY un-Yankee-like when it comes to the basics. HRs we can do... but moving runners over, productive outs, key bunts and smart baserunning have seemed to allude us this year. It's the Manny syndrome. It's tough for a manager to harp on basics to veteran stars.... but that's what we need.

24. P.S. Baseball changes almost as fast as the weather in New Hampshire, but I think the O's and Twins (T. Hunter out for a few weeks) will not compete with us.

It looks the the (hopeless) A's will be our competition for the WC. Remember all those games we won from the 'hapless' A's? Might end up being the difference in getting to the PS or not.

Living in NH, I watch all the Sox games. I think they will be better the 2nd half (no more trade rumors, a better Schilling) and we will have to step it up a few notches to
compete with them for the division.

RJ has been a bust. He has pitched 2 or 3 excellent games (but so will Small and Leiter by the end of the season). Other then that, he had been below league average. Even with all our problems, if RJ was 'as advertised', we would be in 1st right now.
I don't think he likes NY. I don't think he likes the Yankees. He is just here to be on a winning club abd pad his stats (and make 17 mil a year too).

26. "Was the Figgins catch just a really good play, or was it "the best catch you'll ever see," as Sterling described it?"

It was a very, very good catch. Many times, those catches are a result of a fielder not getting a good jump or breaking the wrong way, but Figgins was running correctly the whole way. He covered a TON of ground. As I mentioned in the other post's comments, the fans at the stadium gave him a standing ovation as he came off the field.